Infrastructure

This is the fourth story in a multi-part series on the pandemic and its impact on people in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, YUVA, a non-profit organisation, attempts to understand the challenges they face in accessing relief and assesses the rights-based approach to benefits. Rajit, a 57-year-old construction worker is finding it hard to make ends meet after the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown hit. "I have not been able to work for a day since the March lockdown," he says. The official figures on the number of construction workers in Mumbai are pegged to around 6 lakhs, making them 2%…

In the many years that I have lived in Mumbai, I have perfected a method of walking from the Western Express Highway metro station in Andheri East to my apartment, a kilometre away.  First, I sprint to cross the road. Then I use the momentum to jump onto a footpath. A little ahead, 90% of the footpath is encroached by a shop. So I turn to my right, extend my arms, and maintain balance as if the footpath were a surfing board. Then I leap over a variety of automobile parts displayed by the shopkeepers in the shopfront. Like me,…

By end the of May, Rehana Shaikh, 39, a Naik with Mumbai police, developed a fever. Shaikh had been overseeing bandobast across Mumbai from Dadar's Naigaon police station. Every day, from the beginning of the nationwide lockdown on March 24, she was allocating duties to 278 policewomen across the city's emerging hotspots, arterial roads, hospitals, and check nakas. When COVID-19 symptoms manifested, Shaikh rushed to Metropolis Labs, a private diagnostic centre, for a test. But the result was delayed. "My symptoms were worsening but without a test result, no hospital or a COVID health care centre would admit me," she…

Both the Western and Eastern coastlines of Mumbai are in for a sea change. While a Rs 14,000 crore Coastal Road Project is being implemented on the Western coastline, different groups are proposing vastly varied ideas for the 21-km Eastern side that stretches from the Bombay Dockyard to Wadala. What Mumbai Port Trust wants to do The Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT), which oversees the planning for the Eastern Waterfront project has decided to commercially develop 25.63% of land, another 23.26% will be used for ecotourism and 10.76 % to rehouse local slum-dwellers. By ecotourism they mean cruises, a marina, promenades,…

When temperatures soar, Delhiites pray for rain. But when it pours, even just for a few hours, tragedy strikes. As happened on July 19th. Severe waterlogging submerged many parts of the city creating huge traffic jams. One house collapsed when a drain near it collapsed, and four people died from the flooding in different parts of the city. Among the major casualties on the same day was the central dome of Delhi's iconic Mubarak Begum mosque -- built in 1823 and a prominent visitor attraction -- which collapsed in the torrential rain. Such monsoon mayhem has become an annual feature…

Even when the howling wind and torrential rain brought by Cyclone Amphan was causing havoc around her on May 20, Sabita Sardar was not afraid. “We are used to dealing with bad weather. I wasn’t feeling scared. In fact, those who live in concrete homes were more scared,” she said. For 40 years now, Sabita has been living on the streets of Gariahat, a popular market area in south Kolkata. That day, when the super cyclonic storm passed through West Bengal’s capital city, Sabita and a few other homeless women sat huddled together in her tricycle cart under the Gariahat…

With Unlock 1.0, Bengaluru has reopened its shops and businesses, and even traffic jams seem to be back. Is this good for us? The short answer is: not all of it. On the one hand, it is great that the economy can recover and the joblessness crisis may start to resolve.  But on the other hand, people returning to their daily lives as if nothing happened is a dangerous approach. More people risk falling sick and infecting others, as indicated by the recent spike in COVID-positive cases. Hospitals that have worked so hard these past few months to contain the…

A recent photography project documented the lack of women loitering in Bengaluru. While men access public spaces freely, women venture out of their homes only for specific purposes, the project indicated. Why is women's access to public spaces so limited in Bengaluru, as in other Indian cities? To understand women’s participation in the city, it is necessary to focus on the structural factors that affect their ability to move and access opportunities. Data suggests that women often work out of their homes, tend to walk more and have shorter commutes, revealing a gender commuting gap in Indian cities. Bengaluru needs…

The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has recommended holistic planning for pedestrian friendly market spaces in various cities and municipal areas in the country in consultation with stake holders. The advisory issued by Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to all states/cities/municipal corporations has also suggested the million plus cities to select at least three market places for pedestrianisation & non-million plus cities to select at least one market area for pedestrianisation in market places. The following steps have been suggested for adopting pedestrianisation in market places 1. Selection of Market Location – Million Plus…

Due to poor maintenance and metering, transformers can get damaged frequently, causing power cuts. Pic: Ekta Sawant Bengalureans are familiar with frequent power cuts lasting several hours, sometimes through the day. Irregular power supply interrupts our daily routines, especially with respect to work since many of us are working from home these days. It could also damage household appliances like refrigerators, air-conditioners and TV sets. In the case of medium, small and micro industries, erratic power supply affects production. One of the most common reasons for power cuts is the poor maintenance of distribution transformers. Damaged transformers also pose a…